4 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; 5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
Verse four is the is the list of "ones.” It is mostly straightforward. The body is the Church, with the internal evidence found in 1:23, 2:16, 3:6. The “one Spirit” is the Holy Spirit, a member of the Trinity and yet the one God; internal evidence includes the six other verses in Ephesians prior to this one that establish the Spirit's identity, coupled with verses five and six here that all identify the Spirit as a member of the Godhead. The hope of our calling is all that comes with salvation and service, with internal evidence found in 1:18 and 4:l. “One faith” is faith in God generally, and faith in Christ specifically; Ephesians 2:8-9 provides the internal evidence for this.
However, the series of "ones" merits further thought. Are these “ones” applied only to the church age? "One body" would certainly make it seem so. But others here do cross dispensations easily. "One faith" could apply to faith in Christ's finished work specifically, or to faith in what God says to do generally (regardless of dispensation). Likewise, there are several baptisms throughout Scripture; is the reference here exclusively to baptism of the Spirit, publically symbolized through water baptism? That would make sense, as it is Paul speaking to the church, and that baptism only needs to occur once because it is permanent. Verse six concludes the thought here with God's almighty nature, but the end of the verse also establishes the indwelling of the Spirit for believers, which would lead me to believe the one baptism is indeed a reference to the baptism of the Spirit. Like any honest student of the Scriptures, there are times when I will simply have to confess a degree of uncertainty and wait for the Lord to provide more light on the matter.
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